Time to make Pakistan member of NSG: Maleeha Lodhi

NEW YORK: Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations Dr Maleeha Lodhi, addressing a Security Council open debate on Tuesday, made a strong pitch for Pakistan’s inclusion in the Nuclear Suppliers Group saying that the country had taken exemplary measures to establish nuclear safety.

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Speaking at the UN Security Council debate on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi demanded that Pakistan be made a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a group of nuclear supplier countries that regulates global trade in nuclear technology.

“Pakistan is fulfilling its responsibility toward non-proliferation of nuclear weapons with utmost dedication,” she said, adding that the country fulfills the eligibility criteria for membership and deserves to be included.

Pakistan had implemented a comprehensive export control regime, participated in the Nuclear Security Summit process, ratified the 2005 amendment to the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, declared unilateral moratorium on further nuclear testing and reiterated its willingness to translate it into a bilateral arrangement on non-testing with India, all of which established its eligibility to become an NSG member, Ambassador Lodhi said.

“We expect that a non-discriminatory criteria based approach is followed for extending NSG membership which strengthens the non-proliferation regime,” Maleeha Lodhi said.

She told the 15-member Council that a challenge to non-proliferation norms was the granting of discriminatory waivers which denoted double standards and opened the possibility of diverting material intended for peaceful use to military purposes.

Ambassador Lodhi said that disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons were related and emphasized the need for nations to work together on the issue.

“Signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty should fulfill their responsibility,” she said.

She further said that Pakistan was following a self-imposed ban on further testing of nuclear weapons and called for India to do the same.